Real Madrid returned to winning ways at home to Las Palmas but Girona are the new surprise leaders of LaLiga after they made it six league victories in a row.
Girona had moved up to second at the weekend with a thrilling 5-3 success over Mallorca, but they trailed after 49 minutes at Villarreal.
Daniel Parejo put the hosts ahead from 12 yards but Artem Dovbyk produced an equaliser only seven minutes later.
Five minutes after the leveller and Girona had completed the turnaround when ex-Manchester City defender Eric Garcia headed home a cross by Alex Garcia.
It proved enough to earn the Catalonia outfit, who are part-owned by City Football Group, a 2-1 victory to overtake Barcelona at the LaLiga summit.
Real Madrid were made to work hard for their 2-0 victory over Las Palmas but Brahim Diaz’ first goal for the club in the third-minute of first-half stoppage time broke the deadlock at the Bernabeu.
It was 2-0 soon after half-time when Joselu continued his fine form with a 54th-minute header from Rodrygo’s centre.
Athletic Bilbao are fourth but they had to settle for a point following an entertaining 2-2 draw at home to Getafe.
Yuri Berchiche opened the scoring for Bilbao in the fifth-minute but Oihan Sancet was sent off at the end of the first half and Gaston Alvarez levelled for Getafe in the 51st-minute after an assist by Manchester United loanee Mason Greenwood.
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Inaki Williams put 10-man Athletic back in front before Juanmi Latasa had the final say on proceedings with an 83rd-minute leveller at San Mames.
Real Sociedad are fifth thanks to a 32nd-minute effort by Carlos Fernandez in a 1-0 win at Valencia, who finished the match with a numerical disadvantage after Selim Amallah was sent off.
Meanwhile, Cadiz and Rayo Vallecano played out a goalless draw with Abdul Mumin given his marching orders for Vallecano late on.
Inter Milan’s perfect start to the new Serie A season ended after Sassuolo came from behind to clinch a 2-1 win at the San Siro.
Denzel Dumfries put Simone Inzaghi’s men in front before half-time and they looked on course for a sixth straight victory, but Nedim Bajrami silenced the home crowd with a 54th-minute equaliser.
It got worst nine minutes later when Domenico Berardi rifled home from the edge of the area to put Sassuolo ahead.
Inter’s city rivals AC Milan were indebted to English duo Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek after they claimed a 3-1 win at Cagliari.
Zito Luvumbo put Cagliari ahead before the half an hour mark, but Noah Okafor scored for Milan in the 40th minute and Tomori fired home from a corner on the stroke of half-time.
Loftus-Cheek extended Milan’s lead on the hour mark when he arrowed home an effort from 25-yards after good play by Christian Pulisic out wide to help Stefano Piolo’s team move level with leaders Inter on 15 points from six games.
Napoli returned to winning ways with Victor Osimhen able to put his social-media storm to one side to score in a 4-1 win over Udinese.
Osimhen had threatened legal action against Napoli over a post on the club’s TikTok which appeared to mock the forward but he let his football do the talking with a smart 39th-minute finish in Naples.
Piotr Zielinski, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Giovanni Simeone were also on target while Lazar Samardzic grabbed a late consolation for Udinese.
Matias Vecino and Mattia Zaccagni struck in the second half to earn Lazio a 2-0 triumph over Torino while Atalanta are up to fourth following a hard-fought 1-0 win at Verona.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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